Fighting for Peace
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: Anduin believed in peace, but he'd come to accept that it was sometimes necessary to fight for it. But in the Nexus, where wars were waged for their own sake...how could he fit into a world like that?


**Fighting for Peace**

"So," Orphea said, leaning back in her throne. "You are Anduin Wrynn."

"I am."

"You are the latest hero to arrive in the Nexus."

"I don't know if I'd call myself a hero, but other than that, yes."

"You are also the one that refuses to fight."

"No."

"No?" Orphea asked.

"No," Anduin said. "That is not correct."

"How so?"

"I don't refuse to fight. I just refuse to fight without purpose or cause."

"If that is the case," Orphea said, tracing a finger down the side of her throne, "we have a problem. And as someone who is well versed in the ways of the Nexus, it is that it ill-abides problems."

"Be that as it may. I won't play the game you bid me to."

Orphea got to her feet. "Walk with me."

Anduin Wrynn, the Lion, the Son of the Wolf, the heir of Stormwind, obeyed her. Getting to her feet, Orphea wished she was taller – it wasn't that the man before her was especially tall (certainly not any more than some of the beings that found their way into the realms), but he was taller than her, and that meant it was harder to convey authority. Still, it would have to do. The Son of the Wolf was clad in armour, carried a sword at his side, and wielded the power of the Light. But she had magic of her own – as ancient as the Nexus, and in many ways, as terrible.

"What do you-"

"Just follow me," she said. She walked to a giant oak door that led out of the throne room and onto the balcony. A pair of knights opened the doors for her. She smiled as she saw Anduin give them uneasy glances. No doubt he was used to similar treatment back home, but the knights that had once served her father had never been created to make one at ease. And though they now pledged allegiance to her, she'd not deemed it fitting to change their aesthetic.

"This is what I wanted to show you," Orphea said as they walked out onto the balcony. "The Raven Court."

She looked at Anduin as he rested his hands on the railing and looked outwards – from Raven Tower, to Cursed Hollow, to lands and realms beyond.

"Well?" Orphea asked. "What do you think?"

"It…" She could tell Anduin was struggling for words. "It…well, it's very-"

"Barren and miserable, I know," Orphea said. Anduin opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "Don't waste your time flattering me Anduin Wrynn, the Raven Court is not the jewel in the Nexus's crown. It is a piece of bronze on the crown's periphery." She gestured to the realm that she now ruled. "Still, it is my birthright, if only by circumstance. My father thought he would rule this place forever, so he never bothered to draft anything pertaining to line of succession."

"Or usurpation?" Anduin asked.

"Or that." Orphea looked away, and returned her gaze to the prince. "The point, Anduin, is that Raven Court has stood for centuries, and will stand for centuries more. And that is in spite of the Nexus being a place where blades are ever at throats, and where war is the one constant."

"Why?"

"Why? Why what?"

"Why must war be the constant of this place?"

"The man who heralds from Azeroth asks me such a question?"

"I can, because every conflict in my world has had a reason behind it, be it good or ill. In this place however, it appears that the Realm Lords do battle for no reason other than battle's sake."

"I-"

"Surely you must comprehend the madness behind that."

"Must I?" Orphea asked. "What of the other champions? What of your father, who even now, is fighting in Blackheart's Bay?"

Anduin scowled and looked at the portal that connected the Raven Court to Mistharbour. "My father and I…we have not always seen eye to eye."

"That we have in common."

"Yes, I heard about that." Anduin looked back at her. "You usurped your father, did you not?"

"I did."

"Was that not you fighting for something?"

"It was for…" She took a breath. "It was for many things."

Anduin smiled. "That kind of battle was it?"

Orphea nodded.

"But the Nexus benefitted, did it not?"

"It did. The people of King's Crest may hate me, and the Lady of Thorns ever searches for my father, but yes, I ended his madness."

"Then why not end it all?" Anduin asked. "Why these constant battles?"

"It is the-"

"Provide me an answer other than it being the way of things, or the natural order of things. I have heard that excuse so often that my ears bleed upon the words reaching them."

Orphea scowled. "You have no right to-"

"I am here – against my will I might add. If the Realm Lords want me to be their pawn, to fight their battles for them, then I have every right to ask why I am fighting for them."

"I-"

"And what of you, Orphea?" he asked. "You're both realm lady and hero. You must understand the conundrum you're in – ruling a realm, and fighting for other lords who wish it ill."

"My position is…" She trailed off, casing her gaze over the Raven Court again. "It's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it. Break the cycle, as I once attempted to."

Orphea snorted. "How's that turn out?"

"I cannot say. But many of my former allies and foes are in this place, so if this is to be my home, I would strive for peace here."

Orphea sighed and looked at the Alliance prince. He just stood there. Eyes kind, but firm. Sword sheathed, armour unstained by blood. She only understood so much about Azeroth, but frankly, it was a wonder that he had yet to wed.

"You're a good man, Anduin Wrynn," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Better than most of the heroes that are brought to this place."

He shrugged, though he couldn't hide his pleasure at the flattery completely. "I don't mean to suppose, but-"

"But nothing. I brought you here because I wanted to convey the truth to you before a realm lord took it upon themselves and used less favourable methods. You have to fight Anduin, as we all do. The Realm Lords demand it. The Storm itself demands it."

"Ah yes, the Storm. That which brings us back every time." Anduin snorted. "Why should I fear the Realm Lords when death means nothing here?"

Orphea's eyes darkened. "You'd be surprised what you can live through."

"Then let me be surprised. Better I be surprised in the knowledge that I took a stand for what was right."

"There is no right here Anduin, any more than there is wrong. There is only the Nexus, the Storm, the Realm Lords, and the pawns they wield. Anything outside that is irrelevant. Now please, take that to heart before ill befalls you."

"I can't, and you know it."

Orphea sighed. "Then you are beyond my aid. All I can do is wish you well, and hope that you realizing the truth is a process that entails as little pain as possible." She turned round and headed back for the throne room. "Now begone from my tower. Once reality hauls you away in chains, I do not wish to be there."

The door opened. The knights bowed. She continued to march and-

"You're a coward."

She stopped, clenching a fist. Slowly, ever so slowly, as slowly as a grain of dust moving across the sands of Luxoria, she looked at Anduin.

"Pardon?" she whispered.

"You're a coward," he said.

"I deposed my father. I fought for the Nexus. I-"

"Past bravery does not excuse present cowardice." Anduin walked towards her. The knights advanced, but Orphea held up a hand, bidding they stay in place.

"I have been a coward in the past," Anduin said. "And I do not claim to be above fear. But you, realm lord and hero both…you can see it better than anyone else here. The madness of this place."

Orphea frowned.

"You know that the battles here are for nothing. That they can only bring pain and misery." He knelt down. "I will pledge myself to you Orphea, if you help me overturn this insanity."

"Get up Anduin."

"If you can be the leader this world needs, I will fight for you. I will even kill – only as last resort, but-"

She killed him.

Not instantly, but the process was quick nonetheless. From her hand, a tendril of dark magic extended into the ground, before erupting where Anduin stood in a burst of spikes. He yelled as they impaled him, lifting him into the air. But from where she stood, Orphea could see that the pain he felt was not so much physical, but emotional.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He tried to speak, but it was no use – blood poured out from his mouth. But his eyes…they said enough.

"You'll be revived soon enough," she continued. "And when you do…please understand the nature of this place. Other realm lords…they will not be as accommodating."

"You…" he whispered. "You…"

"I'm sorry, Son of the Wolf."

The dark magic coalesced into a hand, grabbing his broken form. Anduin Wrynn was subsequently thrown off the balcony.

She didn't turn to see if he landed. She knew that his body would disappear mid-air, before eventually being revived in a hall of storms. How long that would take, she couldn't be sure, but here, outside battle, only a few days at the most. And when that happened…he would still remember what she'd done. All of it. He would remember, and hopefully, he would learn. He would understand that there was a way to the Nexus, and not even she, as hero and realm lord both, could overturn it.

She headed back into the throne room of the Raven Tower. Her palace. Her prison.

Her home, forevermore.

* * *

_A/N_

_It's kinda fitting that I write for both Orphea and Anduin when I currently have enough gold for just one of them (and Cho'Gall, but I'm not going there). 0_0_


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